The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1887-03-04
STICK TO THE FARM.

Stick to the farm Evuoble your calling,
Educate yourself for it, and by judicious
experiments, close observations and untir-
ing labor and pains-taking, make it the
source Of mental Improvement, pleasure
and profit. When We say educate your
self for it, we do not mess education in
the schools aud colleges, though we think
that in these far moro attention should
be given to the branches connected with
agriculture. We mean that the young
farmer should, by judicicus course Of
reading and thinking in the intervals of
labor, acquire the Intelligence that is in
dispensablc in his calling. Let him read
attentively short elementary works in
geology, chemistry and plant ply siology.
The necessary books can be got for not
more than two dollars. Having laid the
foundation in these, let him continue the
course through life by subscribing Cor one
or two good newspapers. We don't mean
agricultural papers which treat of moth
Ing but the one subject, but good weekly
newspapers, from which he eau store his
mind with information on all topics. Near
ly all the leading wecklics have depart
ment devoted to agriculture, conducted by
a competent editor. 4 society Of young
farmers in each neighborhood would be
most valuable adjunct.
Let him max, experiments Of his own,
cautiously, and daily learn something by
observation. 1t is certain fact that every
acre of land, if it has medium subsoil
and is pretty well drained, can, by careful
tllago and judicious use of home made
fertilizers, be made to yield twice the quan-
tity of cotton or corn that it yields with the
ordinary. tillage. A careful selection Of seed
alone will increase the crop, and if per-
severed in, may double the yield and give
permanent variety, valuable not only to
the producer, but to his fellow farmers.
Let the young farmer give his attention to
these things, adding daily to his knowledge,
adding yearly to his profits. 1t is uude-
niable that agriculture is the civilizer of
mankind and the ultimate source of the
wealth of all natiOus. Let every young
farmer, then, be proud of his calling, aud
seek 10 adorn it.
We are aware that spirit Of unrest is
abroad among young farmers of tho South.
For some years their labors have been hard
and their profits small and slow to accumu-
late. Many Of them fancy that surer,
shorter. less laborious road to competence
may be found in the professions, in trade,
or iu other kinds of labor In this they
are mistaken. The depression is wide
sproad-wide as the civilized world-it
permeates every avocation, every rank of
society. The professions are ovcrcrowded.
Here and there is professional man who
acquires competence and fame; but for
every one Of these there are scores who
exc out mcager substance, very many of
them not knowing how they arc to pay
their board or house rent at the end of the
month, nor their grocer's aud butchers
bills at the end of the week. One reads
and hears of the successful ones, but not
of the others; just as one reads of the
few who draw the big lottery prizes among
the news items Of the public prints, but
the names of The thousands who draw the
blanks-never
And in the mercantile business-few
young farmers can form conception Of
the physical and m,ntal labor the mer
chant and his clerks and other employees
must undergo. For the former, days of
toll and sleepless nights of anxious
thought! c! For the latter, days of unre-
mitting slavish work, uneasy doubts as to
what the futuro, with the vicissitudes of
trade, may bring Homeless and with
out means or employment Can our
young farmer friends fancy the full mean
ing of these words? And how many
merchants succeed in their business ? We
have seen it stated, by good authority,
that not more than five out Of hundred
retire from business with competence.
The other ninety-fv see their capital
slowly melt to nothingness, or is swept
away at one fell swoop that brings bank
ruptcy and ruin to the merchant and loss
of position to his employees.
And what Of the ether forms of labor
in which millions are engaged? What oil
the great army of wage-workers-is peace,
plenty and contentment found in their
ranks? Is there no unrest there /? What